Columns

What is the library of the future?
Does it have shelves with new releases and up-to-date periodicals tempting you as soon as you walk in the door? Is it an “on ramp” to the information highway with broadband internet access for all and book borrowing directly to your Kindle?
Can it be a place where local data is stored and shared widely so that everyone has access to important information about the future of our community? Or is it a gathering place with a coffee shop and a place for community meetings?

After careful research, these are my reasons for voting no/opposed to incorporating the Panhandle of Lancaster County to be a 58-square-mile town of Indian Land.
◆ The proposed area to be incorporated is way too large, encompassing 40 square miles of farmland. Incorporation of that large of an area of rural farmland puts it in jeopardy, as agricultural protections under S.C. Chapter 46 do not apply in incorporated areas.

My name is Melvin Threatt. A few years ago, I was chairman of the Planning Commission for Lancaster County, so I understand how decisions are made about growth in Lancaster County.
The citizens of Indian Land have a great opportunity to decide its destiny March 27 at the voting polls.
The county has done a disservice to Indian Land over the past number of years, by way of uncontrolled growth with no plan. A yes vote on March 27 will put this community in charge of the future.

An important deadline is approaching for Lancaster County taxpayers – the closing of the county’s 2017 tax books, which takes place March 16.
This is an important step in the annual fiscal budgeting process for Lancaster County government, as it allows those who serve on county council, the school board, and town and city councils to determine how much tax revenue they will have to work with as they finish their 2018-19 budgets.

I recently heard that the proponents for incorporation (VTIL) have been touting a significant increase in property values as a benefit of incorporation.
As I hadn’t heard why this would occur, I decided to do a little checking. Google searches led to multiple articles, but one online commentary (from Indiana) appeared to sum it up nicely, “Increased real estate values and marketability, as more improvements and urban utilities are made available.”

To be or not to be a town. That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of the “status quo,” or to take action against a sea of troubles, and by opposing – end them?
My journey started almost 10 years ago before my retirement. Way back then, I was already concerned about the number of lights being put up at intersections along U.S. 521.

Don’t let VTIL fool you into incorporating, Indian Land.
Voters for a Town of Indian Land is trying to pit you and everyone else in Indian Land against the county of Lancaster to get you to vote for incorporation. They’re using terms like Indian Land is the cash cow for Lancaster, and saying Indian Land gets nothing from Lancaster.
It should be common sense that an area that probably is more densely populated with probably higher home values than any other in the county, will pay more in taxes. That does not make the other areas less deserving.

Editor’s note: In one of the most tumultuous Washington weeks in recent memory, President Trump bucked many in his own party on gun control, saw the departure of one of his closest aides and announced new tariffs on steel and aluminum that roiled global markets. Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Here are excerpts of his interview with host Margaret Brennan.

I am not joining the gun-control debate. There are enough well-informed, reasonable people and ill-informed, unreasonable people participating in that.
In addition to guns, there are other variables to consider in the horrendous, long-lasting tragedy that recently overtook unprepared students and staff at the Florida high school. I believe this dreadful happening could have been averted if proper procedures had taken place.